Super
by crazykatloveshats
Summary: Yet another school. Jack is sure no one will ever beat his record of most highschools attended in one year. But this school seems... strange. There are whispers in the halls that not all of the students are normal. And what's with this whole 'Guardians' thing? Why is the principal so weird? How can he keep his secret? What's going on? Rated T for now. May go up later. Highschool AU
1. Chapter 1

Jack pulled up his hood as he walked towards the imposing brick building. The whole thing was a modern art lover's dream, all glass and steel and dark grey stonework. When his social worker had brought him here for registration the day before he had all but begged her to take him somewhere, anywhere, else. This place was obviously for the uppercrusts. He was going to stand out like a sore thumb, even more than he usually did.

Besides, rich people had a habit of being snobby and judgemental. The teenager did not do with with snobbish or judgemental, as his extensive juvenile record of fights and pranks gone wrong well proved. He sighed and did his best to hide his white hair as he walked up the smooth (was that black marble?) steps. Not that he wasn't drawing attention anyways, his worn brown skinny jeans and blue hoody, along with his tattered (almost non existent really) blue converse, were obvious indicators of an outsider. And the teens loitering out in the early morning spring sunshine stared down the poor new kid as he entered the building of the school.

He glared at the neat and tidy plates stuck to the walls near the doors as he passed them, comparing them to the piece of paper he had been given the day before. He probably should have paid more attention the day before when he and his social worker had been given a quick tour. But the principal's assistant had had such a monotonous and droning kind of voice that Jack had kind of lost himself in his sulky thoughts. So now here he was, at yet another school, lost, and trying to figure out what to do about that fact.

As he stalked forwards reading yet another room number off of the wall he suddenly rammed into something. Hard. His but hit the floor about the same time that he heard a very colorful curse from above him. He quickly looked up to thee that the something had actually been a someone, a very tall muscular boy with odd charcoal colored hair and shockingly green eyes. "Oi, what the hell mate?" The still standing boy growled ill temperedly, muscular, well tanned, forearms. Jack registered that he had an austrailian accent before his brain caught onto the fact that he was still sitting dumbly in the floor making a fool of himself.

He lightly jumped up and took a step back from the guy he had just crashed into. "Hey sorry man," he said giving a small smile to try and lighten the mood. "I was trying to find the right classroom and wasn't looking where i was going. My bad." The other boy didn't look plicated. "Yeah it is yer bad. What kina gumby doesnt look tha direction e's headed?" Jack took another half step back, not liking the hostility in the other boys voice. "Look, I'm sorry ok? Now if you'll excuse me I've still got a classroom to find." The austrailian opened his mouth to reply but was cut of by an excited and high pitched squeal of, "ASTER!"

They both jumped as thin arms, covered in a rainbow of plastic beads, came out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around the larger boys neck."Congratulations on winning the art competition! I just heard this morning! Why didn't you tell me sooner Aster?! I would have had my mom make the kachodi you like to celebrate!" The dark haired boy looked uncomfortable. "It wasn't that big a deal. Uhm… i'm kind of in the middle of something Tooth… could we not talk about this here?"

The colorful arms disappeared as a thin, equally colorful girl stepped around the boy, Aster, Jack surmised from their conversation. "Oh," She said in a more moderate tone. "I didn't realise you were talking to someone! Who is this Aster?" The tanned teen shrugged and said gruffly. "The blogan who ran into me is who 'e is." Tooth rolled her eyes, which Jack noted were a bright purple color. He wondered if she wore contacts, he wouldn't put it past her with all the colorful highlights she had in her hair. "Come on Bunny. How many times have I told you not to be a grump? I mean how rude can you get? Not even asking the new kid for his name then calling him something mean in your weird slang!" Aster all but growled at the reprimand. "'E was rude first in not lookin' where 'e was goin'. An' my slang ain't weird!"

But by this point the girl (who Jack suspected was made of pure energy) wasn't listening and had moved closer to the kid in the blue hoodie. "Hi!" She said chirpily. "I'm Toothiana Tyagi. Also known as Tooth! And the Grump Is E. Aster Bunnymund. I'd tell you what the E stands for but then he would be even grumpier and that would be a real mood kill. You can call him bunny if you want to though, everyone else does."

Aster was glowering behind her, but Jack hesitantly took the hand she was offering anyways. "Uhm, I'm Jackson Overland, Or just Jack I guess?" The spritely girl beamed. "It's so nice to meet you Jack! Is today your first day here?! Oh how exciting! Do you know where your first class is? I have time if you want me to show you!" Jack was already feeling tired in just listening to the girl, Tooth. But she had just offered a solution to his problem so he offered her a friendly smile. "That would be great actually. This place is huge."

But Tooth was already ignoring what he was saying in favor of another squeal. "Your teeth! They're beautiful!" Jack backed up a bit when she looked like she was going to launch herself at him. "Uhm what?" But she was completely focused on getting another look, she had reached up to pry his lips away so they would no longer hide the objects she so desired but a large hand came out of nowhere to stop her. "Now Tooth,, fingers out of mouth yes?" That seemed to snap her out of her trance. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "Sorry! They're just so pretty!" The hand released her arm and Jack traced it back to a hulking monster of a teen who was standing next to him.

He had long brown hair, blue eyes, and a five o'clock shadow even though it was barely eight in the morning. His eyes twinkled as he smiled at the short newcomer. "And who might this be?" The mammoth of a boy inquired of Tooth an smiled excitedly. "This is Jack! It's his first day! Jack this is Nicholas St. North! And the quiet one standing next to him Is Sanderson Mansnoozie," Jack looked down to see a short blonde boy almost hidden by his companion. The kid smiled and gave a little wave. Jack nodded slightly in reply. "North and Sandy respectively." Tooth finished.

"Hi.." Jack said uncertainly. Slightly put off by the size difference between him and North. The larger boy smiled in an inviting way and exclaimed, "Iz good to see new faces no? And new school iz like adventure! Jack gave him a small smile back. "Yeah I guess so." _I just wished I could stick to one adventure a year._ He thought snarkily to himself. North was then distracted as Sandy tugged at the hem of his shirt. "What iz eet Sandy?" The shorter blonde pointed at a familiar piece of paper, which Jack only then realised he was no longer had that happened? "Oh!" North exclaimed, "You have same lunch times! You will eat weeth us?" Tooth dashed over to look at the paper over sandy's head. "Ooh! Not just that Jack! You have very class with at least one of us! How lucky! This way we can make sure you won't get lost today. We can just make sure whoever you have class with will show you the way!"

Jack shrugged, uncomfortable at their attentions. "Uh, I mean, I don't want to be a bother…"

He stumbled as a large hand clapped him on the shoulder. "Nonsense! Iz nobother to help new friend." The white haired teen looked down shyly but could of swore he heard Aster snort in quiet derision.

"Bunny." Tooth said, warning tone clearly evident in her voice. "Jack has the same homeroom as you. Why don't you go ahead and show him the way? It's time for us to be heading to class anyways." Aster looked like he was going to protest, but with one look at Tooth's expression he changed his mind. "Yeah. Fince. Whatever." Tooth nodded and turned to Jack, suddenly all smiles. "Ok Jack follow Bunny and when homeroom is over Sandy will pick you up and lead you to biology ok?" Jack had a feeling that turning down the girl's offers would be a bad idea so he nodded. "Sure… Thanks I guess?"

North let out a loud laugh. "Is great to make friends on first day no? Now to class." With that he lumbered down the hall and the rest of them split off. Jack obediently following a certain grumpy australian. The teen had a feeling that he was in for a long day.

 **Hello! Welcome to this weird little brain baby I call a story! I'm going to try and put as much of this up as I can while I still have access to a computer. So wish me speedy writing ya'll!**


	2. Chapter 2

It had indeed been a long day. Not only had he been drug around the enormous school by a sprite, a mute, a kangaroo, and a mountain man, but he had had to deal with trying to figure out what he didn't know during his classes, the energetic bunch of friends during lunch, and every other teen in the building staring at him after he had been forced to take off his hood during homeroom. And now he was trudging back to the home through the slush of sadly melting snow.

He just wanted a nap. But of course that was too mush to ask for because every single teacher had given him homework. And he also needed to make dinner for the younger kids. Oh how wonderful is life.

He sighed as he walked up the muddy concrete steps to the front door and went inside the dimly lit home. He trudged heavily up two sets of stairs then pulled down the steep latter leading to the attic. He clambered up the rungs easily despite the heavy bag of books slung across one of his shoulders. Sinbad was already in the attic when Jack made it to the top. They nodded to each other as Jack made his way to his bed. Sinbad was seventeen and about to age out of the system, And as the oldest boy in the home he held himself aloof from the others. Of course this put more strain on Jack, who as second oldest did more of the cooking, and all of the delegating in the place. Not that he would complain. He wanted the youngest ones to have as good of a childhood as they could, even if it was in a home. He sighed as he settled onto the bed, sparring a longing glance at his pillow before pulling out his books. If he hurried he could get through algebra and most of biology before he had to go back downstairs to cook.

Not even twenty minutes had passed before Jack heard a knock on the ladder. He left it down during the afternoons so the kids could get him if something happened. He should have known they wouldn't let him be today of all days. With a sigh he stood and walked over to the door set into the floor, peering out through it. "Jamie? What is it?" Jamie, a eight year with a tendency towards pranks looked up at his urgently, dancing in place. "Jack! Lue and Max are fighting again! You need to stop them before they break something!"

Jack groaned to himself, running a hand through his messy white locks. "What are they fighting about this time?" Jamie looked down at the well worn boars of the floor and mumbled something unintelligible. Jack arched a dark eyebrow. "Jamie?" The boy looked up at him a small blush stealing across his face. "I may have put itching powder in Max's shorts and he may have just automatically assumed it was Lue who put it there…"

Jack didn't know whether to sigh or laugh so he did a combination of both. "At least you found a scapegoat huh?" With that he slid down the ladder fireman style and gestured for the kid to lead him to where the other boys were. though once they got further down the hall he realised this was un nessasary as he could hear the ruckus the fighters were making well enough to find them by himself.

Jamie ran off to who knows where, probably to go set up another prank, and Jack continued on to the last room on the hallway. He opened the door quickly with a loud yell of, "HEY!" The boys froze, afraid they had been caught by Director Zaragoza. Lue was on top of Max, pinning the other boy down, his fist raised as if to get in a punch. Max, even from the bad position he was in had obviously been putting up a good fight, he had one hand on Lue's chin, pushing it up. The other hand was doing it's best to block his face. They both were sporting bruises, and Lue had a nasty scratch down his cheek where Max's fingernails had caught.

Jack cleared his throat. "So I'm guessing neither of you are very hungry tonight. But I wasn't aware they you both loved menial labor so much…" The older boy hinted. Reminding the other two that the punishment for getting caught fighting was no dinner and twice as many chores for the next week. The two fighters shared a glance before Lue slowly stood up. "Ya know Jack, I actually was getting pretty hungry…" Max rubbed the back of his neck and yawned. "Yeah. And I'm pretty tired. Once I eat I'm probably going straight to bed."

Jack chuckled quietly at their sudden uniformity. "Well then. You had best get cleaned up. You know how the director likes to see his kids nice and unbloody during dinner. They nodded, glancing at eachother once again and seeing the damage that had been done."You two might want to pick up this room as well. Those extra chores can be earned in other ways too you know." They nodded again and Jack shook his head turning his back on then and looking at the clock on the hallway wall. "You have an hour!" He called over his shoulder.

And with that thought in mind he made his way to the kitchen. He had a small army to feed after all He would need that time to cook enough food. When he got to the kitchen a few of the kids were at the table doing their homework. They looked up as he came in and started to pack away their things. They knew he would need the table for cooking, as there wasn't enough counter space. Two of the older ones walked up to him as he was digging around in one of the cabinets.

"Need any help Jack?" The white haired boy scrunched his face up in thought. 'Well… It looks like there's enough here to make potato casserole. And also some soup…? He thought for a few more second before nodding. "That should be good if i mix a bit of the bacon into the potatoes." With that he turned to the other kids. "Hey do you mind rinsing and peeling the potatoes for me?"

They nodded and set to work. The next hour passing in a blurr. They ended up taking a bit longer as the potatoes took longer to cook then Jack had estimated. But he just distracted the other hungry kiddos by having them set the table. Once everything was done and distributed across the long table he had one of the younger kids run and tell any stragglers that dinner was ready. There were twenty seven boys all told. Plus the Director. So it took a few minutes for everyone to gather.

As they got to the dining room the boys stood behind their assigned chairs and waited until they were all there and the Director nodded for them to be seated. The table was arranged much like the rooms with the youngest sitting together and progressively getting older the further along you went. Jack suspected the Director had slight OCD when it came to such things. And he wished he didn't since the seating arrangement meant that he sat at the Director's right hand with Sinbad sitting across from him.

Dinners were always quick, tense affairs in the home. No one wanted to attract the Director's attention or furry. Of course it was hard not to do just that when you were sitting right next to him. And he seemed to be in a particularly bad mood that day. He frowned at the food on the table even as he put some of it onto his plate. He caught Jack's eye as he did so. "Isn't potato casserole more of a winter type of dish?" Jack shrugged. "I made what I could sir." He replied quietly, trying to keep any sense of tension or frustration out of his voice, knowing that would only spur the man on more. But it seemed that was the wrong thing to say anyways. A frown darkened Director Murray's flat features. "WHat is that supposed to mean boy?"

Jack back pedaled wildly in his head as he looked for a way out of the predicament he now found himself in. The other boys had started eating even quieter, trying to hurry and finish their food before the man blew his top and took it away from them. Jack ssaw Sinbad tense and he tried to signal to the other boy to not interfere. "I- Uhm- I mean there wasn't much other than potatoes in the kitchen so I just…" He flinched a bit and the large man slammed his hand down on the table harshly. "How dare you imply that I don't supply you with enough food! I'm the reason you have clothes on your back and a roof over your head! Well fine! If you're going to be so ungrateful you can all go without dinner!" Jack groaned inwardly. The other boys would probably have something to say to him later. With a sigh that swept around the table from one boy to the next they all tried to discretely shove one last forkful into their mouths before standing up and beginning the dance of clearing the table. Director Zaragoza stayed at the table polishing his own plate clean before leaving it there for one of the younger boys to bring to the kitchen.

Jack started on the dishes as Jamie and Lue put the extra food in tupperware so it wouldn't go to waste. Sinbad ambled over and ruffled his white hair, sliding his own, clean plate into the sink. The oldest boy had little fear of being reprimanded for finishing his dinner. He had height and muscles mass on the Director, and he aged out in a month so there wasn't much that could be done to him. "Good job Frosty." He said amicably. "I don't think I've seen Zaragoza that riled in a while. And you managed it in so few words too!" Jack gave the seventeen year old a half hearted glare, flicking a little water into his face. "Oh leave me be. He backed me into a corner. He was looking to let off some steam about something I'm sure."

Sinbad nodded. "Oh yeah. There's something that's got his panties in a wad. I'd watch yourself tonight." For a split second his grin slipped into a more serious expression as he gestures with a glance to the other boys. Jack nodded in understanding. Sinbad was implying that Zaragoza was in the mood to hit something. That was never good news so they should get the kids to their rooms and quiet as quick as possible.

Jack glanced over at Lue. "Hey you two almost done?"The younger blond nodded. "How about with your homework?" That brought a wince. Jack and Sinbad both laughed. "Tell you what." Sinbad said. "How about we hold a homework athon up in the attic tonight. Jack looked like he could use a bit of help too." Jack snorted in derision. "I would have breezed through it if it hadn't of been for some… distractions." He stated looking at the youngers boys who had the grace to look sheepish even if they didn't have enough to apologise.

Jamie answered quickly so that they could move the conversation forwards. "I need help too! We're doing multiplications! They're hard!" Jack laughed and Sinbad snorted. "They sure are kiddo." Jack replied. "So if you're done go gather up the others and tell them to get to the attic ok?" The younger boys nodded and raced off. Sinbad sighed. "I'm getting too old for this." He said with a dramatic hand wave. "I'd better go watch them to make sure they don't dig through my stuff." Jack winced. "Keep them away from mine to?" The oldest teen waved his hand in acknowledgement as he walked out of the kitchen.

Jack sighed and set to his work with renewed vigor. He had a mountain of dishes and a pile of homework. Why did things suck so much today in particular? It took nearly forty five minutes but finally he was on the last dish. One of the casserole dishes that the food had stubbornly baked onto. He scrubbed diligently and was finally making a dent in the crust when he heard a noise behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and was startled to see that Director Zaragoza was there, standing uncomfortably close. The teen yelped and dropped the dish, looking just in time to see in shatter in the sink. He froze, pale face studying the broken glass in horror. It was almost a minute later when Zaragoza finally growled out. "It's not enough that you are ungrateful for the food I give you, but now you are also breaking the things I pay for?" Jack couldn't help himself, he knew he was in for it but he couldn't stop the next words from tumbling out of his argumentative mouth. "Technically, the state bought that dish, and the food, and my clothes, and pays for this house." He flinched as he finished, realising what was coming but not quick enough to defend as his hoodie was grabbed and he was thrown to the floor.

Zaragoza was yelling, calling him a brat amongst other things, and telling him of all the horrible things that would have happened if he were on the streets instead of here, under the Director's protection. The man drove every point home with a kick to Jack's boy tried to curl into himself but he mostly used his arms to block his head and face, he knew that occasionally Zaragoza would get carried away enough during one of his rages that he wouldn't care about visable marks. And he didn't want to have to deal with that can of worms on his second day at a new school. It took a few minutes but finally the rage that had been building up seemed to have been spent. With a last mutter of, "Ungrateful." And a stomp on a pale hand the man stormed out of the room. After a few seconds Jack heard a door slam and knew he and the kids would be ok for the night. After expending all of that energy Zaragoza would be sure to fall asleep quickly.

Jack sighed and uncurled himself slowly. His ribs screaming about the beating they had just taken. With a groan he stood and hobbled to the sink doing his best to clean away the broken glass so none of the kids would accidentally cut themselves. Then he hobbled up the two flights of stairs, he could hear the movement and occasional muffled noise from the boys in the attic once he crested the last step. He was glad none of them were likely to have heard the scuffle that had occurred in the kitchen. Before he headed up to join the homework brigade he felt the need to steady himself. He made his way to the large three stalled bathroom and made sure there was no one inside. Shuffling over to the huge mirror anding on the wall over the sinks he raised his hoodie and the t-shirt he wore underneath it, up so he could see the damage. He winced, The bruises were already starting to form. He poked around a bit until he was certain nothing was broken, though one rib was sorer than the others and was probably cracked.

With a sigh he pulled his clothing back down to cover the bruising and turned the faucet on in the sink. He washed his face trying to get enough energy to go up the ladder. He really just wanted some sleep. After another sigh and a steadying breath he decided it would be best to go up to the attic before one of the kids came looking and risked waking up the Director. He only had to last another two hours before lights out. Then he could finally get the sleep he wanted.

Climbing the latter was torture. Normally he did it with the grace of a cat. But it was harder to do with your ribs on fire. Hw forced a smile on his face as he climbed into the room. It was cramped, with a boy on every available inch of space. The room was small for it's normal three occupants, but with twenty three (four had already done their homework and had decided to stay in their own rooms rather than cram themselves into the attic) kids it was packed. Jack groaned inwardly as he lowered himself onto the floor near where he had left his backpack earlier, ignoring the looks Sinbad, and their other roommate with the unfortunate name of Hiccup, were giving him. Hiccup waited a few minutes before shuffling over and sitting next to jack. "Dude." He whispered. "Whats up? You look shittier than normal." Jack snorted at his humor. "Thanks. And I'm fine. Just had a little accident on the stairs. Hiccup gave him an incredulous look. "Really dude? The old "I fell down the stairs' stick? You're like, the most graceful person ever! You expect me to believe that?!" Jack glared at the boy who was one year his junior. "Yes." he stated meaningfully. Hiccup just shook his head and sighed before moving away. He waited until Jack had stopped watching him, losing himself in his homework, before going to talk to Sinbad. Jack didn't notice.

The two hours went by torturously slow. Jack focused himself on his homework so he wouldn't have to talk to the others as much, he really wasn't in the mood for helping the younger kids with their homework. He did manage to get all of his stuff done though which was more than he would have guessed himself able of considering the circumstances. And he then worked on some extra credit equations for algebra as the last for minutes trickled by. Finally Sinbad called time, and the others left to get ready for lights out. The room cleared in minutes and Sinbad asked if the other two were good with him pulling up the ladder for the night.

"Sure." Hiccup said quietly as Jack nodded, pulling himself up onto his bed he slowly stretched out on his back one leg hanging off the side. He closed his eyes as he groaned in contentment at finally resting his tired body and didn't see the look that passed between the other two. Before he knew it they had pinned the slim boy down, Hiccup grabbing his ankles while Sinbad pressed a knee into his shoulder and wrestled with his blue hoodie. Jack thrashed, realising what was going on. "Guys! I'm fine!" Sinbad gave his signature snort. While Hiccup replied. "Dude! You were holding your ribs the entire time you did homework! And you didn't joke around with the kids! You are not fine!" Finally Sinbad got a good hold on the hoodie and yanked it up, Jack's shirt going with it. The white haired teen could feel the others freeze at the sight of the bruising, which was a nasty black/ purple by this point. And while he couldn't see Hiccup's face he could definitely see Sinbad's.

"Son of a bitch." The eldest cursed. And Jack winced. "You know this isn't the first beating I've been dealt." The pale boy tried to rationalize with them. "I've had worse, You've had worse. Leave it be." They let go of him and he slowly at up as they stepped back, having gotten what they wanted. "Anything broken?" Hiccup asked quietly. Jack shook his head. "No. Thankfully." And Sinbad cursed again before storming over and punching the wall. Jack winced knowing the other boy's temper. He and Hiccup waited for Sinbad to form a coherent sentence that wasn't just curses. It took a minute before, "I can't wait to get out of here." Jack sighed. "None of us can dude."

The seventeen year one rounded on him. "This isn't right." Hiccup nodded before Sinbad continued. "I'm going to do something about this. I may not get too buddy buddy with the kids but I can't stand to see any of you get beaten like this!" Jack glowered at him. "Hey I'm not a kid! And I can take a little beating!"

"But you shouldn't have to!" Jack shrugged. "Well it happened. And there's nothing you can do about it now." Sinbad practically growled. "I can go to the cops, or the state." Jack laughed. "Oh yeah. That would be soooo much better. They'd have to shut this place down. We would all be thrown back into whatever home could squeeze a few more cots onto the floor, a house where the same shit happens. Nothing would change. And the younger ones wouldn't have us to try and keep them away from the worst of it. And I'd be sent off to yet another school, the fourth one in my freshman year. Great." Sinbad growled again. Realising that the spritely teen was right and he really couldn't do much about their situation. Especially since he was about to get kicked out. With one final punch to the wall he sighed. "Fine. Get some sleep then You're gonna need it."

"Hold on. I made something a week ago that might help with the bruises!" Hiccup stopped the other two and ran over to his side of the room. Digging in a drawer on their dresser he pulled out an old Vick's vaporub tub. Jack chuckled a bit. "Dude I don't think Vick's is going to help." But hiccup just waved a hand airily. "Oh I just recycled the tub. Its actually full of an herbal recipe I found online. It good for bruising and muscle soreness. Try it!" Jack sighed and rolled his eyes at his roommate's quirkiness. He was always making some strange thing or another. But he complied and let himself be a guinea pig. Applying a thin layer of the stuff over his abdomen and his slightly bruised left hand. He then stripped off his hoodie and flopped back down on his bed. "You guys happy now?"

"Not really." Sinbad replied. With that the gruff boy hit the light switch and plunged the room into darkness. Jack laid awake for a bit listening as Hiccup fell asleep,he couldn't tell if Sinbad was asleep and with his last waking thought he hoped the other boy wasn't planning on doing anything stupid.

 **And there is chapter two! Sorry guys I'll get back to the other Guardians soon. I just wanted to establish Jack's living situation before we moved on. Drop a review to let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

_The ice crackled and snapped. He jumped, swiped, missed, and fell. Down into the cold. Down, down, down, as ice filled his lungs._

Jack sat up with a gasp. Then curled in on himself as his abused ribs protested. He sat there for a few minutes, struggling to get his shaking and breathing under control before he woke the others up. He realised his efforts were in vain though when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see the shadowy form of Hiccup standing next to his bed. "Same dream?" The other boy whispered. Jack nodded slightly, not wanting to admit his weakness even if it was clearly evident.

"Dude, maybe you should take the state up on that offer for a shrink." Jack snorted. "N-no thanks. I'm not really keen on spilling my secrets to strangers." Hiccup chuckled quietly. "Oh I don't know dude. I think they might be able to help more than your fourteen year old roommate." Jack rolled his eyes and sarcastically snipped. "What? But you're doing such a great job!" They both laughed a bit before a flying pillow came out of the darkness and twapped Hiccup on the back of the head. "Some of us like to be asleep at four in the morning." Sinbad grumped groggily.

With a laugh Hiccup threw the pillow back, beaming the oldest boy in the face. Jack snorted at what he could see of Sinbad's expression before laying back against his own pillow. He heard Hiccup make his way back to bed and tried to relax. He had another two hours before he needed to get up and fix breakfast. He really should get more sleep.

But unfortunately sleep alluded him. He tossed and turned but couldn't get his nightmare out of his head. Which sucked because he really was still tired. After an hour of trying, and failing, he finally admitted defeat. He stood and walked to the dresser, digging around in his drawer he pulled out a clean set of clothes before sneaking over to the door set into the floor and doing his best to quietly lower the ladder. He carefully climbed down and made his way to the bathroom. Deciding that an extra long shower was definitely in order. None of the other kids were up yet, which meant the had the bathroom to himself and didn't have to worry about hiding the bruises as he stripped and slipped into one of the three shower stalls.

The hot water felt heavenly on his aching body. He let it wash away the last vestiges of his dream as he shampooed his white hair. He stayed in the stall for almost an hour before forcing himself out with the knowledge that the others would be waking soon and breakfast still needed to be cooked. With a quiet sigh he toweled off and got dressed for the day.

Jack groaned, The forty five minute walk to school sucked even more when he was sore and tired. But he had made it, and he wasn't even late. He did jump a bit as he stepped into the parking lot, when a red red jeep honked at him. He looked up at it as it pulled into a nearby parking spot and North hopped out of the driver's seat. "Jack! Good morning my friend!" Jack looked at the other boy incredulously. "How are you this excitable this early?"

As he had hoped the russian didn't take offence, But instead laughed and exclaimed, "On such a beautiful day iz hard NOT to be excited no?" Jack shrugged as Tooth and Sandy slipped out of the back of the jeep, lugging their backpacks with them. "Jack!" Tooth exclaimed, "Are you ready for your second day?" Jack shrugged again. And started walking towards the building as part of their group. Which was weird since the pale teen was usually outcast by the second day at a new school.

As the enter through the glass front door they saw Aster leaning against the lockers a little ways down the hall. The tanned australian glowered at his friends as they walked up. "Why are you so late!?" He caught sight of Jack and glared even more. "And you brought this Drongo too? We had a meeting with Principal Moon thirty minutes ago ya know? And you know the rules, no outsiders." Jack winced a bit at the term, but tried not to show that the rejection hurt. Tooth stepped forwards in an effort to smooth out the situation and said. "Look, I'm sorry Aster, It was my fault we were late I was helping my little sisters find something. And we just happened to meet Jack at the door. It's no big deal ok?"

"Of course it is! You know the rules! If we want to keep going we can't allow outsiders!" Jack snorted, trying to make it sound more sarcastic tha hurt he exclaimed. "Well then. Let this Outsider get out of all of your hair!" With that he stormed off hoping he could remember the way to his first class. Tooth watched him go before turning and kicking Aster in the shin. "Ow! What gives sheila?!" She glared him down. "Good going. You hurt his feelings. Do you always have to be such an ass?" North nodded behind her. "Yes. Was no need to be so rude." The aussie shrugged. "You were the ones who were late. And you do know the rules."

It was Tooth's turn to glower. But Sandy cut off her reply by signing, "Yes, we were late, But you still had no right to be rude to Jack. Besides you dropped too many clues in your little rant. We do have a secret to keep you know." Aster frowned, but conceded the shorter teen's point. North sighed. "Come, Let us go talk to Moon. We may as well try and get as much of meeting in as possible." With that they walked down the winding hallways to the main office, the others refusing to look at Aster the whole way.

It felt like it took forever for the lunch period to roll around. But maybe that was just Jack. He hadn't looked up when Aster had shown up to Homeroom fifteen minutes late. After that he had spent the time between classes dodging the others in their little group, they still seemed determined to walk him to class. But he was fine, he didn't need their charity. He had enough of that in his life as it was. Besides, this way they didn't waste their pity on an 'outsider'.

The first real snag he hit while trying to dodge them came in the form of lunch. After he had gotten his tray he had turned to find Sandy standing right behind him. After nearly jumping out of his skin Jack tried to pretend he hadn't seen the shorter teen and tried to walk around him. But sandy grabbed onto the hem of the psle teen's hoodie with surprising strength and started dragging Jack over to the table where he could see the other's sitting.

Jack tried to twist himself out of the other's grasp, unsuccessfully. "Let me go!" He grunted. But Sandy would not be appeased until he had drug the other boy into the most awkward situation possible. Within seconds they were at the table and Jack's shoulder's slumped in defeat. Sandy pointed to an empty seat next to North and Jack obediently sat. There was no arguing with the short blonde after all.

There was a bit of awkward silence before Sandy smacked his hand on the table to get their attention. When he had it he pointed from Aster to Jack and gave them both a stern look. Aster tried to protest, but was cut off by Sandy's shake of the head. "Finally the australian gave in, though he wouldn't look Jack in the eye he said. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier mate. I'm not at my nicest in tha mornin. And ya got caught in tha crossfire so…" Jack cringed inwardly at the awkwardness of the atmosphere, but forced himself to shrug nonchalantly. "Sure dude. It's whatever." Aster nodded, and with that the others changed the subject, talking about an art project Aster and tooth were working on for their next class. Jack sighed. He wished he had art next, instead he was stuck with gym. Lucky him. Though they were doing a gymnastics program so it wouldn't be all bad he supposed. He settled in to listen to the other's gossip, still not comfortable at being a part of the group. But he couldn't stop a contented little half smile from slipping onto his face.

 **And that's that little bit done! I'm still not completely happy with it but it will have to do. What do you all think of the little hints in place for what is to come?**


	4. Chapter 4

**I double updated today! Please make sure you read both chapters!**

Jack groaned a bit as he followed North towards the gym. He hated phys ed. It took all the fun out of things likes running and jumping and playing games, all for the sake of a stupid required class.

He had trudged all the way into the locker room to change before he remembered his bruises and the problems they posed. As discreetly as he could he grabbed his school issued gym clothes out of his tattered gym bag and slipped over to the toilet stalls. He changed quickly, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that he was uncomfortable changing in front of his classmates. He knew well what kinds of rumors that observation could spawn amongst teenagers.

He slipped out of the stall and cast a surreptitious gaze around the locker room. It didn't seem like anyone had seen him so he allowed himself to relax a bit. He walked over to the small line of sinks to splash some water in his face. He needed to brace himself a bit, the next hour of class would be hell, painful, stupid hell.

But he couldn't afford to get a bad grade so he knew he had to push through. If his grades slipped, even a little, the deal his social worker had made with the school would go out the window. He would get kicked out of the last high school in burgess. If that happened the state would try and ship him out of town to who knows where. And he couldn't let that happen. He had his secret to protect, his room mates helped by pretending not to notice the little signs, knowing what it would mean if they outed him. And SHE was here. He couldn't leave her. Not after everything that had happened.

He glanced at his reflection in the mirror trying to see if anything from the incident the night before was showing around the maroon shirt and black shorts. He relaxed a bit when he judged that there wasn't enough visible to raise a fuss, just a few small bruises on his calves and the bruise on the back of his left hand. He didn't think that those were too eye catching, though he couldn't wait till the end of the class when he could change back into his hoodie and jeans.

With a sigh he turned, only to lock eyes with a tall, pale boy who had obviously been studying him. Noticing that he had Jack's attention the other boy gave a small half smile and sauntered up to the white haired teen.

"Hello," the boy said with just a hint of a british accent, "I don't think I've seen you around this dump before. I'm guessing you're the new transfer that showed up yesterday while i was out of town. You apparently caused quite a stir." He gave Jack an obvious onceover. "Though personally I don't see what all of the fuss is about."

Jack wasn't quite sure how to respond to this boy's remarks. So he relied on his favorite fall back, snark. "You know, it's really impolite to start insulting someone without introducing yourself first." He saw a twinkle of amusement in the taller teen's eye as he gave a dry laugh and stuck out his hand. "Well then. Allow me to on rectify my mistake. My name is Kozmotis Pitchiner." Jack studied the boy as he hesitantly reached out to shake the offered hand. He was tall, and thin, though Jack could see he had muscle clinging to his lanky frame. His longish black hair was pulled back into a short pony tail, which only accentuated the gauntness of his features. "Jack," replied with just the barest hint of uncertainty, "Jackson Frost."

The ebony nodded. "I feel as if I've seen you before. Have i not? The night charity ball in Scotland last year perhaps?" Jack tried to hide his laugh as he shook his head. "I don't know where you would know me from, I've never even left Burgess. Besides I'm not really from this side of town… if you catch my drift." Kozmotis glanced over at Jack's obviously hand me down bag sitting next to all of the nice name brand ones on the benches. "Yes, I believe I do." The taller boy smirked a bit and turned towards Jack. "That was what I wanted to talk to you about actually, you see, the people in this school can be a bit… classist… I'm sure you will find out what I mean by that soon if you haven't already. But I run, well, let's call it a self defence club. And well, if you don't mind helping me out with a few… other projects.. that I run,I i could help get you started, teach you how to defend yourself. There might even be a little pocket change involved."

Jack looked uncertain at this proposal that had dropped out of nowhere. "I don't-" he stuttered before getting cut off by a large warm hand landing heavily on his shoulder. He jumped a bit in surprise, glancing up to see North glaring at Pitchner. "Jack my friend!" The russian stated, obviously trying hard to keep his voice light. "Ze class iz starting yes? Let us go."

With that he drug the small white haired teen away. When they were out of earshot of the other boy the brunette muttered for only Jack to hear. "Iz best to stay away from that one yes? Iz bad news." Jack looked confused. "He didn't seem too bad. Maybe a little rude. But he offered to teach me… I don't know, self defense or something?" North laughed a little as they walked into the gym. "Trust me. You do not vant to know vhat he has to teach." With that the large russian walked up ahead, going to talk to the teacher.

Jack sighed and studied the gym, catching bits of the loud conversation North was having. Something about not doing silly flips and having the option to play a real game instead. Jack shook his head as the other boy persisted despite the coach not giving any sway.

Soon the class started. Gym mat where set up around the large building, as well as various pieces of gymnastics equipment. The coach explained that each of them would take turns at each section. They would practice this stuff for the next two weeks, then on the last Friday in this part of the lesson plan they would have a friendly competition, the top ten kids from all of his classes would get an extra bonus added to their final grade for the year.

Jack smiled to himself, he loved a good competition. And gymnastics was nothing new to him. He started his stretches with the rest of the class, doing his best to his his wince as his poor ribs twinged. He hoped they healed before the competition. He could really use a boost to his grades. He watched as the first few students went through the pieces of equipment. The coach calling instructions as they blundered about.

As their numbers dwindled of those who had yet to have their go he sighed and stepped into line. North was just stepping up for the first little bit of fun. He was supposed to try to do some sort of flip or somersault. The coach wasn't being picky today as he tried to locate where each kid would need the most practice time over the next few weeks. North tried for a simple summersault, and failed miserably. Jack tried to hide his snicker, though the boy who had failed was laughing at himself. As North moved on the next boy stepped onto the mat. Kozmotis. He managed a one handed somersault with little trouble. Finally it was Jack's turn. He decided to take it relatively easy since he didn't really u feel like putting too much strain on his ribs… but he also felt like one upping the classmate who had made derogatory remarks to him earlier. So with a small running start he tried a no hander summersault. And nailed it, smiling quietly to himself when it didn't hurt too badly. He could do this.

The rest of the class passed similarly. With North failing miserably, Pitchner doing pretty well, and Jack breezing through with minimum effort. Though he did try and make sure it looked good, it wouldn't do to get marked down because he wasn't trying very hard. At the end of class they headed to the locker room to shower up before the next class. North clapped Jack on the shoulder as he passed. "Good job friend Jack! You have much talent no?" Jack shook his head with a small self depreciating laugh. "Not really, I've just had a bit of practice, took a few classes when i was younger, and I've been really into that parkour stuff lately." North nodded. "You must start practicing again. You might one day end up as gold medalist if you do." Jack laughed at the absurd thought. Just as someone bumped into him almost knocking him down.

Kosmotis stalked passed, looking pissed. Jack stared after him in confusion. "What was that for." North glared after the brit. "He does not like to be shown up. Is very prissy that one." Jack snorted, a gleam coming to his eye, and a smirk that promised impish trouble finding its way onto his face. "Oh but i do love a challenge," he said with a hint of glee, ignoring the curious look North gave him. _And pissing off prissy people is my specialty._ He finished in his head as he slipped into the shower stall to rinse off and change.

 **And there's that. Not sure when I will post next chapter. Hopefully sometime soon. Thank you all for the great reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

Jack had made it through the day, barely. To say he was exhausted would be an understatement. He was barely disguising his limp as he trudges through the halls to his locker. After gym his muscles had tightened up, adding yet another level of highlights to his lovely agony.

He sighed as he came into sight of his objective and saw a grumpy aussie leaning against it. He didn't know what the other boy wanted but he knew he didn't particularly want to deal with it at the moment. But the quicker he got whatever this was over with he could go home, maybe ask Hiccup to cook so on he could go to bed early.

He walked up to Aster with b one eyebrow raised. "Want to explain why you're blocking the way to my homework?" He quipped. The aussie only rolled his eyes in reply to his question. Then stepped out of his way. Jack gave him a confused look but stepped forwards to unlock the locker door and grab what he needed.

As he slammed the door closed and zipped up his backpack he heard Aster sigh. "Sorry about this mate." Jack turned to look at him in confusion the yelped as something slipped over his head. He struggled as he was drug backwards. There was a strange whirring sound then he was falling backwards, down farther than he should have. He spazzed, realizing that the hands that had held him were gone. Lashing out he felt nothing, no walls floor or anyone else. But he could have sworn he heard someone elses breathing.

Then suddenly he found the floor it was slanted like a slide. He hit it with a pained grunt and a sliding tumble. When he came to a stop he reached up and ripped off the hood that had been covering his eyes. Somehow he was in a different room, or a different place entirely. It sure didn't look like the school, with its modern artsy glam. He peered around at the high tech computer bank covering one wall, then at the people standing in front of it. "You have got to be kidding me." He mumbled to himself as he recognized their faces.

It was just his luck that the first people who did not automatically write him off as a weird loner turned out to be weird kidnappers or something… what was this place anyways? "Jack!" North called out welcomingly as the white haired teen started struggling to his feet. Suddenly TN a hand reached out from behind him and grabbed his arm to help him. He flinched at its appearance and looked for its owner as he twisted out of it's grip. It belonged to a man, a janitor judging by his outfit, with a rather large mustache.

Jack glanced uncertainly between the man and the other teens. Lost as to what was going on, but unwilling to show his fear. "H-hey guy's, mind telling me what this is about?"

"vhy Jack,you sound nervous, I hope it vas not the trip zat frightened you?" Jack snorted, his natural sarcastic defence instantly coming into play. "No i love being blindsided and pushed through a hole in the floor." Instead of having the intended effect though the sarcasm dripping from his voice went right over the large russian's head. "Good!" he bellowed joyously, "Vas my idea!"

Jack raised a dark eyebrow and Tooth hurried over to cut off any more uncomfortable. "Jack we brought you here to on talk." Jack wandered over towards a computer in the corner, surreptitiously gaining a bit of room between him and the others. "Talk about what?" He questioned, trying to keep his voice neutral.

"Well…" She trailed off, uncertain on how to begin. Seeing her flounder for an opening Sandy started signing, trying to steer them in the right direction. Jack stared at him for a second. "yeah I'm not really getting you little man. Remind me to learn sign language later ok?" Aster sighed, seeing that the rest of the teens were kind of lost he stepped up to the plate.

"Look mate. Have ya ever heard a tha guardians?" A puzzled blue gaze swung around to study the aussies tanned face. "Uh… yeah I guess? I mean who hasn't? Vigilante groups are kind of uncommon, when they show up word tends to get around." Aster nodded. "Well what all do you know about them?"

Jack's brow furrowed in thought as his confusion deepened. "Uhm well… The rumors started about a year ago… a group of young… young mutants…" he used the last word uncomfortably, "started fighting against the crime bosses here in burgess and the surrounding towns. Over time the news started calling them the guardians, and gave them each a code name, since they don't stick around after a fight long enough for anyone to learn anything about who they really are…"

"There's a reason for that." Said a calm, quiet voice from behind Jack. The pale boy spun around quickly and saw a man step out from a camouflaged doorway set into the wall behind the computer her had approached earlier. "Hello Mr. Overland."

Jack backed away, quickly reaching his creepy strange man quota for the day. First The janitor helped to kidnap him, not this guy was popping up out of nowhere. "Who are you?" he demanded hotly, his frustration with the situation coupling with his pain and not letting him think clearly. "Why am i here? Where even is here?!"

The man raised an elegant hand in a placating gesture. "Calm down Mr. Overland. There is no reason to fear. I am Principal Moon. And i asked your colleagues to bring you here today so I could make you an offer." Jack looked at him suspiciously. "Offer?" Principal Moon nodded and stepped further into the room, bringing his face more into the light. He was light skinned, though not as pale as Jack, and had long platinum blonde hair pulled back in an elegant ponytail. Jack could also see that the creme suit he was wearing was very obviously expensive.

"Yes, offer, but more on that in a moment. First," He strode towards what was obviously the main computer and pressed a button. An image popped up on the largest screen. The man pressed another button and the image turned out to be a video, a security video. "Why don't we take a look at this." Jack looked and felt his heart sink into his stomach. He recognised the scene that was playing out. A dark figure was passing through an ally and noticed that two guys were kicking something around. The figure stopped, obviously studying the situation. Then they moved, it was just a slight twitch of the shadows hand, but the guys froze, literally, their legs were instantly encased in solid blocks of ice.

The object they had been abusing twitched before suddenly taking off, revealing itself to be a dog. The guys were obviously yelling, saying something to the mysterious figure, though the tape had no sound you could tell the figure didn't like their words, he waved again and a huge cube of ice appeared around its captives. You could see them moving around so it was an obviously not solid. But it would definitely take a while to thaw. The figure then calmly walked away.

The picture changed, going from night to day, from alley to park. There were kids playing happily in the light sprinkling of the first snow of the season. The security cam caught the shadow of someone sitting high up in a tree. It moved slightly, though you couldn't see what it did through the branches, and the snow fall noticeably increased. Video after video played. Everyone's eyes were glued to the screen. But never once did you see the figures face.

Until the last one. In the very last frame, as the figure turned to leave after icing a robber to a wall, a face flashed onto the screen. Moon pressed the pause button, freezing the image, so that they were all studying a blurry version of Jack's pale face. The boy in question felt like he was about to hyperventilate. Here was his secret, no longer a secret. And he knew how badly people like him were treated by society.

Mr. Moon turned to face him. "Now Jack, about that offer. We would like for you to join us."

"Us?" The paler than normal boy rasped out, flinching a bit as Tooth pranced up to him. "Yes!" She chirped. "Us! The guardians?!" Jack staggered back a step. "The-The what?! You- are you really?!" She nodded "Yup! And Mr. Moon wants you to join us!"

Jack had had enough of surprises. "No. I-I'm not like you. Running around, poking your noses in where they don't belong, illegally I might add. No. That's not for me… No offence." Aster stalked towards Jack obviously irate. "H-how was that not offencive?! Hah! I think we dodged a bullet mates! I wouldn't want this show pony at my back when people's lives might be at stake! I mean, what does this bloke know about helping people anyways?!"

Jack's temper was gone. So he opened his mouth without thinking. "Hey,did you even watch these videos. I have helped people. And i didn't even get my name plastered all over the news as thanks. But I helped." Aster nodded. "Yeah, but no one really cared did they? At least people care to keep track of us!" Jack glared heatedly. "Maybe I don't want the attention! I don't know if you noticed, but people aren't exactly welcoming to mutants like me!"

Sandy stepped in between them planting a hand o. Each of their stomachs. He was the only one who noticed Jack's flinch. Mr. Moon stepped in before the short teen could say anything. "You don't have to decide right now. How about we meet up in a week? Give you a little time to digest the situation" With that he swept out of the room leaving behind a tense circle of teens.

"Vell that vent vell." North stated.

 **Im sorry about the mess up guys, I hope this fixes it!**


	6. Chapter 6

Jack stumbled a bit as he stepped in through the door of the home. He looked towards the two flights of stairs for a minute before deciding that he had punished himself enough for the time being and that he would put that climb on hold. He walked slowly through the short hall and into the living room, glancing around to see that it was empty. With a small relieved smile he let himself down onto the worn couch trying to relax.

But of course, as soon as he isn't focused on his bruises and aching muscles his thoughts start to swarm with the events of the past two days. From his make up with Aster, to the beating he took, to his kidnapping/offer/threat/whatever the hell had just happened. He sighed and rand a pale hand over his face. He didn't even know where he had been during that little talk, they had blindfolded him again when they went to leave. Though he was sure it was under the school since they hadn't needed to walk too far (Which he was secretly grateful for).

He didn't hear the door across the room from the hall creak open, he was so lost in his thoughts that he wasn't even paying attention to things he was normally on high alert for. He jumps when he hears Director Zaragoza growl, "Shouldn't you be making dinner about now?" Blue eyes snapped open and the teenaged boy stuttered,"Uh-uhm, It's only four, it's not quite time yet. I-" He was cut off by a harsh slap to the face. "Well that's obviously where you are wrong. No wonder the food you make tastes like shit. If you just slap it together as quickly as possible it's going to turn out awful! Damn boy how stupid are you?"

Jack winced, wanting to argue, but knowing to bite his tongue. Zaragoza continued his tirade for another ten minutes or so, adding in a few more frustrated slaps when the boy didn't respond. When he finally ran out of breath he grabbed Jack by the collar and picked him up off of the couch. He growled a last insult into Jack's face before tossing him roughly to the ground. "You had better get cooking." The man snarled before stalking back to his room.

The teen let out a soft groan after he heard the door slam. Why couldn't his poor body catch a break? He just wanted to curl up and go to sleep, let the world pass him by. With a sigh he struggled to his feet, only to look up and see Sinbad and Hiccup standing in the doorway to the hall. "Great." Jack sighed to himself. Sinbad glowered. "Why the hell do you keep letting him do that?!" The eldest boy hissed, trying to keep his voice down so as not to alert the director in the next room.

Even mild tempered Hiccup looked pissed. "You're just going to lay there and take that? In case you haven't noticed getting beat up everyday isn't really the best approach to life." Jack rolled his eyes and brushed past them. "I don't know if ya'll remember our little chat last night, but to recap, I don't really have much choice." Sinbad snorted derisively, before following him out and saying in a low voice, "If I catch him in the act again it will no longer your choice to make. Not after I return his beating twice over." With that he stalked away from the other two and after a second they could hear his heavy boots on the stairs. Hiccup sighed. "Want some help with dinner?"

Two hours later saw them sat once more at the long table in the dining room. Jack kept his head down and his mouth shut, Sinbad kept his teeth clenched, and the others just tried to eat as quickly as possible. They were lucky though, Zaragoza was preoccupied by something on his phone and paid the boys no mind. As soon as the bulky man finished off his plate he stood and walked out of the room, still tapping away at the screen. The atmosphere in the room immediately got less tense as he walked out the door.

Jack sighed and reached across the table for another serving of green beans, only to have his hand smacked away by Hiccup, who was looking almost as green as the vegitables. "How can you still be eating?!" the younger boy hissed, trying not to catch the attention of anyone put Jack. Jack looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? I'm hungry so…"

Hiccup shook his head incredulously. "You were two feet away from the guy and you didn't look at his phone at all? This time it was Jack's turn to give his roommate a look. "Are you kidding? I was trying not to catch his attention, of course I didn't try and peer around at his phone. Hiccup shook his head. "Lucky." Now the younger teen had Sinbad's attention as well. "What was so bad about his phone? He's always on the damn thing, looking at facebook or whatever."

Hiccup shook his head. "It's best if you don't know. I'm… I think I'm going to go do my homework." With that the boy took his plate to the kitchen, swiping what was left on it into the trash and placing it in the sink, before heading up stairs. Sinbad and Jack looked at eachother in confusion, unable to fathom what had the normally laid back teen so upset.

It took then a bit to finish eating, then Jack had to lead the cleaning brigade. Jack then headed upstairs towards their room, he was walking down the hall towards the ladder when he saw Sinbad scrambling down the contraption. Jack called out a question, but the older teen ignored him, rushing to the restroom with his hand covering his mouth. Concerned, Jack went after him, only to find the thin young man gagging in a stall, leaning over a toilet, though nothing was coming up. "What the hell?" Jak asked, not really expecting a reply he was surprised when Sinbad pointed out the bathroom door and groaned out, "Ask… Hiccup."

Jack shook his head in confusion but did as he was bid, walking back through the hall and climbing the ladder. He found his target sitting on his bed, head in hands and muttering about things he would never unsee. Jack shook his head, bemused by his roommates' actions. "Dude come on, what could be that bad?"

Hiccup looked up at his friend and wailed, "You don't understand! I saw it! He was texting Mrs. Vanessa from down the street!" Jack was even more confused. Yeah Mrs. Bloome was weird, she had at one point claimed she was married to a bee, but she was pretty nice, compared to the rest of the neighborhood's occupants. "What's so bad about that?" He asked the distraught brunette. Who then flopped on his bed in defeat. "Because she's like forty, and like, kinda wrinkly, and… dude… I didn't want to see that. My innocent mind is forever tainted." Jack had finally gotten enough hints to piece together what Hiccup had seen, and he went paler if that was even possible. The thought of any kind of relationship between the aging neighbor lady and their paunchy Director was pretty horrifying. SO he promptly sat down on his bed, pulled out his schoolbooks, and decided he would never think about it again.

It was lights out before he realised he hadn't thought about the offer the guardians had made him at all since he had started making dinner. His stress over that immediately returned as he tried to figure out a way to get out of joining the group without getting kicked out of the school or having his secret outed, either way he would have to leave and that wasn't something he could do. He didn't get much sleep that night.

 **Well there's… That… I'm so sorry, but Hiccup and Sinbad wanted more air time so… That happened.**


	7. Chapter 7

_Flashing lights, blurred shapes, limbs thrashing. His limbs? He wasn't sure, he couldn't feel them. Couldn't feel anything but the cold._

Jack woke up covered in a cold sweat. The same dream, as always. No surprise there, though he was surprised he had gotten to sleep at all. With a sigh he rolled out of bed, glancing at the alarm clock as he gathered his clothes for the day. Three in the morning. Hurray for two hours of sleep.

His shower was almost as long as the one the day before. He went down stairs as quietly as he could, making sure not to wake up anyone she went. He walked into the kitchen and jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder. He almost screamed his shock, but cut himself off at the last second, turning the sound off into something that was definitely manlier than a squeal (or so he would claim whenever asked).

He spun around quickly to be met with mischievous green eyes and a familiar grin. "A bit jumpy today?" Hiccup asked his friend. Jack let out his pent up breath and slumped a bit with his relief. "Dude. You want me to die don't you? Welp, here you go, I had a heart attack. Now I'm a ghost, you are talking to a ghost. Happy?" The younger teen laughed quietly. "I came to see if you wanted help with breakfast. It's a bit early though… Why did you get up at hell o'clock in the morning?"

Jack shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. So I figured I would get up early and make pancakes." Hiccup looked like he was warring with himself over wanting to call out his friend out, but also like he didn't want to damage his chance to get at some pancakes. In the end he settled for asking, "Want some help?" Jack grinned, "Sure. Pancakes are kind of annoying to make so help would be…" He trailed off, trying to think of the right adjective. Hiccup didn't wait for him and supplied the word as he drug the pale boy towards the pantry. "Helpful. Help would be helpful. And ya know, I'm willing to help out more around here. Soon you will need to start thinking about getting a job or trying for scholarships, when that happens I'm next up in the responsibility line. Might as well start asap."

Jack gave the auburn haired fourteen year old a confounded look, even as his hands started to mix up the ingredients. "You have really weird timing." He stated. The other boy looked curious, "What does that mean?" Jack shook his head trying to find the best way to voice the concerns he had battled through the night, "I was told yesterday that I could join… An after school program thing.. That would help me with school stuff." Hiccup looked excited, knowing that the well off school Jack was in had a really large scholarship program. "Dude, you have to do it! If you can get into college that would be so cool!" Jack shrugged. "I don't know, it's a difficult program thing… and I'm not sure I could get the Director to approve it."

Hiccup shrugged. "What? A couple of extra classes too much for the brilliant Mr. Overland? And just have your social worker approve it first, she can bully Mr. Zaragoza into almost anything, she's scary." Jack chuckled, "That's true. But I'm not sure I should, I'll probably be out late most days, and the club's activities seem to be a bit… diverse… So I'm not sure if I will even do well…"

Hiccup snorted. "We will never know if you will be good at anything other than cooking unless you finally start trying to branch out a bit. Besides I like to cook, it's like chemistry." Jack laughed and spooned a bit of batter onto the heated pan. "And here we have the opinion of our resident scientist." Hiccup grinned and made another batch of pancake goo, they would need a lot of the savory/sweet treats.

Breakfast had gone well, the Director had seemed weirdly contented, something none of them had let themselves think about. But cleaning up had taken longer than Jack had estimated, even with some of the younger kids` help. So he was having to run so he could make it on time.

He was glad his bruises were healing rather quickly, or else he would probably be a lot more winded. As it was the run actually felt nice, his muscles were warming up and stretching out. And it was fantastic after almost a week on inactivity, between getting kicked out of his old school and starting at his new one, and all of the other things that had happened he had had no time to himself to go enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy as in practice his favorite hobbies, parkour and freezing random stuff out in the heavily wooded park.

He was a bit out of breath as he started getting into the nice side of town. He glanced down at his watch and groaned inwardly, he was still fifteen minutes away and class started in eight. He wasn't going to make it. He almost jumped out of his skin as a loud car horn sounded close behind him. He spun around sighed as he caught sight of a familiar Jeep. "What is with everyone and trying to scare the ever living daylights out of me today?" He rumbled as the vehicle pulled up beside him. Tooth, sitting in the passenger seat, rolled down her window and waved. "Morning Jack! Looks like we are all running a bit late, why don't you jump in the back? With North driving we might actually make it in time!"

Jack looked at her, then his watch, then the Jeep. "Fine. But just this once." North laughed and exclaimed something about everyone and sleighs as Jack jumped into the Jeep, surprised to find himself sliding into the seat next to Aster, who looked terrified. "Crikey!" The australian exclaimed as his russian friend caused the red car to peel out. He gripped the edge of the seat hard enough that Jack figured there would be permanent dents in the upholstery foam forever more. Jack grinned as he realised the other boys fear. He quickly rolled down his window and half stood to hang his body out of it a bit, keeping an eye on the road ahead of them so he wouldn't be taken by surprise if a random street sign appeared.

"Hey Aster look at this!" He exclaimed, pointing excitedly with his left hand to draw the dark haired boy's attention away from his right, which reached up and grabbed the tie rack up on top of the Jeep. "This is so-" He cut off and he jumped through the window, trying is best to make it look like he lost his balance. He let himself swing back, and used to momentum to help himself lightly onto the roof. He smothered his chuckles as he heard Aster exclaim in panic and stick his head tentatively out the window. Jack grinned devilishly. "Awww." He crooned loudly, as Aster whipped his head around to see the illusive prankster. "You do care." He could see the amazement on the Aussie's tanned features turn to irritation and he prided himself on a prank well pulled. "Aw rack off you show pony."

As Aster pulled his face back into the vehicle Jack swiveled himself into position to swing and slide back through the window. With the ease of years worth of practice in the woods and alleyways of Burgess he pulled off the move flawlessly. His grin widned as his prankee hurried to turn away once he was safely seated. In just another minute they were slowing and pulling into the parking lot, North finding a parking spot four aisles away with an eagle eye and making a beeline.

As he parked they all jumped out, dragging their bags with them as they all hurried to class. Jack and Aster made it to their homeroom just as the bell rang. Their teacher raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. The boys made their way to their seats and pretty much collapsed into the plastic chairs in exhaustion. The day had started so well.

 **OOOOOOkay. So please don't try any parkour stunts mentioned in my stories at home. Jack is a quasi professional. Or something. I am not responsible if someone gets their head busted ok? ok. Please tell me what you think guys!**


	8. Chapter 8

Jack really wished the Algebra teacher didn't have such a boring voice. He wanted to pay attention, he really did. But he was tired and the low monotone the old man gave the lecture in was making it hard to focus. His eyes turned without him really noticing, to gaze out of the window. It was sunny outside, which wasn't really to his taste, but then again spring in general wasn't really to his taste so… He sighed as he heard the bell ring, happy to be free to head to lunch, where he would hopefully be able to grab an apple or something and find a place to hide away and nap.

He stood and slid his book and pencil into his bag, fighting the nearly broken zipper made the simple task annoying and by the time he got it partially closed enough to not worry about it the classroom was empty. He slung the bag over his shoulder, praying he didn't lose his last pencil, and made a break for the cafeteria. As soon as he set foot out the door he wished he was invisible. The four teens who had been haunting him practically since he first stepped foot in this prissy school were waiting for him.

"Jack!" Tooth twittered. "Principal Moon wanted to talk to you again about joining our group project! Come on!" With that she latched onto his wrist with a surprisingly strong grip. He winced a bit as she put pressure on the last bit of bruising left from when his hand got stamped on. She didn't notice but Aster apparently did. He gave the smaller boy a look. Jack ignored him, trying to pull of that he was annoyed at being manhandled as they walked down the hallways.

Tooth eventually caught onto his seeming mood and let go, though she did continue shepherding him through their route. He wished he could go home instead. Even if going home early from school meant a whole host of other problems.

They arrived at the office and the secretary waved them confirming that the Principal was waiting on them. Jack jumped as North patted his shoulder and nudged him into the room. The tall man from the day before was there, smiling expectantly. "Good! You all came! Now, Jack have you given any thought to our proposition?" The boy in question winced at his straightforwardness. "Well… I can't say that I haven't?"

The man nodded and Jack couldn't help but notice that his hair was silver, not white like his own. "I know I had said I would give you a week but I wanted to update you on a few things. I called Mrs. Pendragon," he said this with a glance at the others and Jack had to wonder why he didn't just say that he called his social worker. Not that he minded, he hated anyone knowing he was an orphan, it never ended well for him. "She agreed support you if you decided to do an... extracurricular. I thought it might affect your decision if she was able to help you through the technicalities so I wanted you to know as soon as possible." Jack stared at him for a minute, unsure what to think.

After the silence stretched on long enough to get uncomfortable the pale teen finally spoke. "Thanks… I guess. But I still haven't made a decision." Moon nodded. "Of course, be sure to let me know when you do." And with that Jack was suddenly ignored as he brought up business with the other teens. Talking about how Pitch Black and his Nightmares had struck again the night before, stealing from a well reputed jewelry store. Jack listened in, curious despite himself a the others bounced ideas for traps and guesses for the location of the next highest would be around.

But while it was interesting he didn't really see himself as one of them. A hero? He was no hero, he had tried that stick already and knew that anyone who relied on him to save the day would be destined for disappointment. He was literally dragged from his thoughts as Aster grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him from the room. Why were these kids so touchy feely? Must be a rich person thing.

Apparently the meeting was over as he and Aster were leading the way to the cafeteria. Jack glanced at a clock on the wall, thirty minutes left, time to eat but not to nap. Great. He didn't protest as he was lead through the lunch line and to their regular table. He sat down with the tray he had been handed when he had tried to get away with only grabbing an apple. He studied the rectangular plate substitute. Even the food at this school looked nicer than at the other schools he had been to.

He ignored the others as he picked at his food. A war in his thoughts. He knew the smart path would be to just decline joining the group, he would only slow them down and that could be deadly. But he did like the thought of helping people, and of the extra credit he had been promised for school. Would Principal Moon kick him out if he didn't join?

That thought brought him up short, he could afford to be kick out of this school, it was his last chance to stay in Burgess. He gritted his teeth, yet another angle to consider. Suddenly a large, tanned hand was being waved in front of his face. Jack jumped a bit and looked up at its owner. Aster was frowning at him, "Ya' alright mate?"

Hurriedly the smaller teen nodded, "Yeah, just thinking." Another frown from the australian. "W'as there ta think abou'?" Jack shrugged. "I'm not really cut out for…" He glanced around at the nearby students in the crowded lunch room "The project." He finished, trying not to cringe a bit at the lameness of the term.

Now North, who had apparently been listening in, added his two cents, "Moon thinks you are, he doesn't just choose us for our… talents Jack, but for our personalities. If Moon thinks you would be a good addition to our group it ees a decision he has thought about and studied from ewery angle. The man ees a genius at reading people, and at knowing their innermost secrets. Ees never wrong. Tell me, ees there something you would protect someone from losing at all costs?"

Pale fingers tugged at white hair in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The large boy pondered how best to rephrase his question. "I love seeing the wonder on children's' faces during christmas time. Ees why I volunteer to help at local christmas fair ewery year." He looked at Jack and the slight boy gestured for him to go on. "One year, I vas at a toy store, getting gift for my cousin, when it vas hit by robbers. Vas very scary, but I vas not scared for me. I vas scared for all of ze children in the store. It vas christmas time, seconds before it started all of ze children had been running around happily, wonder in their eyes at the thought of the christmas present they were going to get come christmas morning. But that wonder vas replaced with fear in a second. It vas awful. That's why I joined. So that bad people can be put away. So that I can protect the wonder in children from the scary world for as long as possible."

Jack looked at him incredulously, but before he could reply the bell rang. They all scrambled to put a hand on their bags and throw out their trays. As Jack rushed for class a large hand stopped him and he looked up into the russian Jack's eyes as he asked, "Do you have something you want to protect?" With that he rushed off. Leaving Jack even more confused than before.

 **Here It is! Sorry it took a bit, but I'm afraid that this is going to be the norm now. I'm Struggling with writing my own book so I promised myself I would only write a chapter of this after I finished a chapter of my book… So maybe this will help me get through it? I'm not sure, hopefully I will be able to be back next week with an update though. Wish me luck!**


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